The activity from a raffle fundraiser table usually takes place as part of another event, such as an annual dinner. Members will donate items, which may be unwanted gifts, craft items or baked goods that they have made, or maybe donations such as dinner in a restaurant that they have solicited for the event. A popular item is a collection of toiletries or food items in a basket.
These items are arranged on a table at the event so that people may see what they can win. The items are on display throughout the evening.
The raffle tickets sold at this fundraiser are usually two-part, so the buyer keeps one part as a receipt, and writes his name on the other part, which is put in a hat or other container for drawing at the end or through the evening.
Raffle tickets are sold at the table, and volunteers may also wander around with tickets, trying to solicit more sales. The price of raffle fundraiser tickets are usually set low enough, say at $1, to encourage everyone to participate; and quite often there will be an incentive to buy more, such as giving 6 tickets for $5.
When the event is drawn, the first winner comes up to the table and selects an item on display they wish to have as a prize. Often, each winner will then draw the ticket for the next winner before leaving the table. The process continues with each winner choosing the item they find most desirable.
When people select their own prizes, they have a higher satisfaction with the fundraiser raffle, particularly as many items may be of similar value, and the winners can select exactly what they want.
Giving away dream cars through a raffle
Links to rules in states where raffles are legal:
States where raffles are illegal:
What others say…
Summer Office Picnic Raffle
Last June, my department at work decided they were going to have an office picnic. My boss and I thought it would be a good idea if we used this as an opportunity to raise some money for a local non-profit.
I was in charge of organizing the picnic and I also ended up being in charge of the fundraiser. My boss and I decided to do a raffle.
One half of the raffle money would go to the “winner” drawn from the lot of raffle tickets and the other half would go to our charity, People In Need.
We knew in order to make money, we would need to give money away. We also knew that our company would match any money we raised dollar for dollar.
I made signs and posted them on the bulletin boards around the department and also sent around three emails to everyone in the department telling them about the raffle and the charity, reminding them of it a few weeks later, and finally telling them the deadline for buying their raffle tickets right before our picnic.
At the picnic, we drew a raffle ticket out and picked the winner of half of the pot. We were able to sell over 100 raffle tickets at a $1.00 each in our little department. We ended up donating $50.00 to our charity.
Our company did not match it, as we found out that the charity we decided on was not an approved charity; however, we were still proud of our contribution. It really felt good to be doing something for someone else!
Fun Easter Egg Raffle Fundraiser
Our Easter egg raffle is becoming an annual event, and is a big hit each time!
People get involved with a raffle is there is an idea associated with it that is “cute and fuzzy” – and what better than a cute Easter bunny!
Last year, my colleagues guessed the name of the Easter bunny (a cute Easter bunny teddy was the main prize, with eggs and chocolate bunnies as runner up prizes). Even if they weren’t interested in winning the bunny, they were interested in the runner up prizes.
This year, the prizes are fancy chocolate easter eggs. And for the raffle, everyone is guessing which countries our busy Easter bunny is going on his holidays. (A rabbit going on holiday?! Yeah right, but you still get a lot of adults choosing their destinations based on where its not too hot or too cold for a rabbit to go…!)
Its great fun, everyone gets involved, and everyone is after the prizes (err… ever known anyone not like chocolate?)
Also, I’ve made it so people feel they’ve got at least something for their money, by giving them a mini egg for each guess they pay for. Target your colleagues around break times when their sugar cravings will get the better of them!
Good luck and enjoy!
My Awesome Raffle Fundraiser
My school athletics department needed to raise money for more supplies, so what we did was start a raffle at our school giving out various prizes.
It did take a little investment to get the gifts, but in the end, it worked out very, very well. We managed to raise in the realm of 1000 dollars, and only needed to spend about 100 on the prizes.
We were sure to advertise it all over school before hand, and I believe the reason it was so successful was because of a combination of good, steady effort over time, and because it was a chance for the people participating to get something out of it, as well.
A great tip for fundraisers is to remember that it should be viewed as a marathon, not a sprint.
